By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Summary: The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) is issuing final accessibility standards for electronic and information technology covered by section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. Section 508 requires the Access Board to publish standards setting forth a definition of electronic and information technology and the technical and functional performance criteria necessary for such technology to comply with section 50...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Purpose: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed by President Bush on July 26, 1990, is landmark legislation to extend civil rights protection to people with disabilities. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, State and local government services, public transportation, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and telecommunications. The ADA required the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Ac...

By: David L. Bibb

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: FY 2006 Annual Report. The U.S. Access Board is an independent Federal agency committed to design that is accessible to persons with disabilities. Under several different laws, including the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Access Board develops and maintains guidelines and standards to ensure access to facilities, public transportation, telecommunications, and electronic and information technology. In addition, the Board provides technical as...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Introduction: Speaking and listening are the primary communication modes in most educational settings. Therefore noise levels and reverberation times (RTs) of these learning spaces should be such that speech produced by teachers, students, and others is intelligible. Unfortunately, many learning spaces have excessive noise (any unwanted sound inside or outside of the room) and RT (persistence of sound after the source itself stops). All students and teachers are negative...

By: David A. Harris

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: Dear Ms. Heumann, it gives me great pleasure to officially transmit to the Access Board, the ADAAG Review Advisory Committee's Final Report, and Recommendations for a New ADAAG. Although a challenging assignment, I'm sure the committee members would agree that our two-year effort was a most worthy endeavor and a very enjoyable and highly professional experience. We believe we have developed a comprehensive set of recommendations that will help result in the next...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: This document contains scoping and technical requirements for accessibility to sites, facilities, buildings, and elements by individuals with disabilities. The requirements are to be applied during the design, construction, additions to, and alteration of sites, facilities, buildings, and elements to the extent required by regulations issued by Federal agencies under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). This document sets guidelines for accessibili...

By: Jan Tuck

Government Reference Publication

Summary: The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) published a final rule in the Federal Register on July 23, 2004 revising and updating its accessibility guidelines for buildings and facilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 (ABA). This document contains correcting amendments to the final rule. DATES: The correcting amendments are effective September 6, 2005.

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Introduction: On July 23.2004, the U.S. Access Board published new design guidelines that cover access for people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These guidelines update access requirements for a wide range of facilities in the pub and private sectors covered by the law. They also include updated guidelines for Federal facilities covered by the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA). Both the ADA guidelines and the ABA guidelines, which the B...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: On July 23, 2004, the U.S. Access Board, an independent Federal agency, issued updated accessibility guidelines for new or altered facilities covered by Americans with Disabilities Act and the Architectural Barriers Act. These guidelines address a wide range of facilities in the private and public sectors. Presented here is an overview of the new guidelines that also highlights significant changes.

By: Tricia Mason

Government Reference Publication

Summary: The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) revised its accessibility guidelines for the construction and alteration of buildings and facilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Architectural Barriers Act in 2004. The Department of Transportation, General Services Administration, and United States Postal Service has adopted by reference the revised guidelines as regulatory standards. The Department of Trans...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: This document contains scoping and technical requirements for accessibility to buildings and facilities by individuals with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. These scoping and technical requirements are to be applied during the design, construction, and alteration of buildings and facilities covered by titles II and III of the ADA to the extent required by regulations issued by Federal agencies, including the Department of Jus...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: Why are visual alarms required? One American in a hundred has a severe hearing loss; nearly one in ten has a significant loss. In 1984, the Digest of Data on Persons with Disabilities reported that: (t)he severity of hearing problems was strongly associated with age. Persons 65 and older constituted 69 percent of the population with the most severe hearing trouble...but only 8.7 percent of the population without hearing trouble. Those who are deaf or hard-of-hea...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: Why is it hard to hear in some spaces? The farther you are from a sound source, whether it?s someone talking or a loudspeaker, the lower the sound volume will be at your ears. While this distance effect can be overcome by increasing the volume, loudness is not all that is needed for good listening. A hearing loss reduces or eliminates many of the acoustical cues that we use to discriminate between sounds. So people with hearing loss must listen carefully to cont...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: How do assistive listening systems (ALS) interface with public address (PA) systems? Public address systems are, in fact, assistive listening systems. They are designed to help people hear across a distance. In a PA system, the sound is picked up at a microphone and delivered through speakers that bring the amplified sound closer to listeners in an audience. For many people and in many circumstances, a loudspeaker may provide enough gain in volume for adequate s...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: What are assistive listening systems (ALSs)? Assistive listening systems (ALSs) are devices designed to help people with hearing loss improve their auditory access in difficult and large-area listening situations. Typically, these devices are used in such venues as movie houses, theaters, auditoriums, convention centers, and stadiums, where they are piggybacked on a public address system. They may also be used in smaller listening locations like courtrooms, muse...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: What is accessible parking? Accessible parking requires that sufficient space be provided alongside the vehicle so that persons using mobility aids, including wheelchairs, can transfer and maneuver to and from the vehicle. Accessible parking also involves the appropriate designation and location of spaces and their connection to an accessible route. How is the minimum number of accessible spaces determined? In new construction, the minimum number of accessible s...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: Why are surface characteristics specified? Over twenty-seven million Americans report some difficulty in walking. Of these, eight million have a severe limitation; one-fifth of this population is elderly. Ambulatory persons with mobility impairments-- especially those who use walking aids--are particularly at risk of slipping and falling even on level surfaces. Preliminary research conducted for the Access Board in 1990 through the Pennsylvania Transportation In...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: The Law Section 255. As technology continues to improve our means of telecommunication, it can pose challenges to accessibility on one hand, while on the other hold the key to innovative access solutions. Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act requires telecommunications products and services to be accessible to people with disabilities. This is required to the extent access is readily achievable, meaning easily accomplishable, without much difficulty or expe...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: Why are text telephones required? In drafting the Americans with Disabilities Act, Congress cited the discriminatory effects of communication barriers in particular and directed the Access Board to include requirements for communications for persons with sensory impairments in its ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). Scoping and technical criteria were developed for assistive listening devices, emergency communications systems, visual alarms and auxiliary notif...

By: United States Access Board

Government Reference Publication

Excerpt: What's the difference between the ADA, ADA regulations, and ADAAG? The Americans with Disabilities Act - the ADA - is a law, passed by Congress and signed by the President in July of 1990, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. To effect this prohibition, the statute required certain designated Federal agencies to develop implementing regulations, the first of which were promulgated in July of 1991. This rulemaking continues today. The regula...